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By Colin Campbell and Jill Colvin 5/02 5:19pm

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John Liu. (Photo: Getty)

John Liu’s Former Aide and Donor Found Guilty in Federal Court

Comptroller John Liu’s mayoral campaign took a significant hit this afternoon when a donor, Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan, and his young former campaign treasurer Jia “Jenny” Hou, were found guilty in federal court for helping to orchestrate a straw donor scheme on his behalf.

“As the jury found, Jia Hou and Oliver Pan stuck a knife into the heart of New York City’s campaign finance law by violating the prohibition against illegal campaign contributions, all to corruptly advantage the campaign of a candidate for city-wide office,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “Cases like this give the people of New York yet another reason to be troubled by the electoral process, and they have a right to demand fair, open, and honest elections untainted by cynical subversion of campaign finance laws.”

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By Colin Campbell 9/07/12 3:08pm

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(Photo: Getty)

Governor Cuomo Endorses a Democratic Senator for Reelection

Governor Andrew Cuomo took an unusual step this afternoon and endorsed a member of the Senate Democratic conference, Adriano Espaillat, for reelection. Mr. Cuomo has had a fairly frosty relationship with the Senate Democrats, usually preferring to side with the Republican majority on contentious issues like redistricting, pension reform and the like, so his first endorsement of a Democratic candidate for the State Senate is notable.

To illustrate the point, Mr. Cuomo declined to go out of his way to endorse Democrat Lew Fidler in his infamously close special election for the State Senate earlier this year, despite the fact that he endorsed in a Democrat vs. Democrat special election in the State Assembly that occurred on the same day. Mr. Fidler went on to lose to his Republican opponent by 13 votes. Later, Mr. Cuomo would directly decline to say if he would support Democratic candidates for that legislative chamber, creating much speculation about his ultimate intentions. Read More

By Colin Campbell 8/29/12 8:45am

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George Pataki (Photo: Getty)

George Pataki Doesn’t Expect He’ll Float His Name for President Again

Former Gov. George Pataki, who made rumbles about running for president this year—before eventually dropping out of contention, doesn’t sound like he’s going to go through the same motions in four years. For the 2012 cycle, Mr. Pataki  traveled to Iowa and even went so far as to build a campaign website for the bid, but in an interview on Capital Tonight down at the Republican National Convention in Florida, Mr. Pataki said he doesn’t “expect to run for public office” again. Read More

By Colin Campbell 8/28/12 1:49pm

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That Was Fast: Vito Lopez Announces His Exit

Assemblyman Vito Lopez, as expected, has announced his resignation as chair of Kings County Democratic Party. Contrary to some rumors circling about, however, he has vowed to remain in the State Assembly, despite being stripped of his seniority and staffing budget.

“I am announcing that I will not be seeking the position of party chair of the Kings County Democratic Party,” Mr. Lopez said in a statement this afternoon. “The onslaught of character attacks has put enormous emotional pressures on my family and close friends. I cannot sit by and allow that to continue. My political history has been to fight through challenges and political conflicts but, for the sake of loved ones and the Democratic Party, it is important that I take this action.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 8/23/12 12:45pm

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Melissa Mark-Viverito Wants to Talk About Dog Poop

“There is No Poop Fairy,” read the title of an email message Melissa Mark-Viverito sent out to her constituents this afternoon.

The issue at hand? Dog poop on the sidewalks in East Harlem.

“It may not be the most popular subject but there’s something our community needs to talk about: dog poop,” Ms. Mark-Viverito wrote to begin her message. “We’ve all probably had an encounter with it on our sidewalks at some point and we all know how unsanitary it is.” Read More

By Colin Campbell 8/17/12 10:45am

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(Photo: Flickr/ nycmayorsoffice)

Mayor Bloomberg: I Kissed a Seal and I Liked It

Yesterday afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg helped unveil a new shark tank aquarium in Coney Island, and as part of the display, he ended up sharing a smooch with a certain lucky aquatic mammal.

But on John Gambling’s radio show this morning, Mr. Bloomberg found himself on defense over that special moment.

“Not much going on,” Mr. Gambling said of news in the city. “It had to be pretty slow, I saw you down at the aquarium getting kissed by a seal or something.”

“You’re just jealous,” the mayor jokingly shot back. Read More

By Colin Campbell 4/25/12 4:37pm

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(Photo: Getty)

Various Officials and Unions Don’t Like Bloomberg’s Prevailing Wage Veto

With great fanfare and ceremony earlier today, Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoed the City Council’s prevailing wage bill, which would have mandated higher wages for buildings that receive tax breaks from the city. His passionate speech before vetoing the bill even referenced the World Trade Center attacks in the opening sentence in order to discuss the city’s economic history over the past decade.

Nevertheless, as can be expected when the mayor takes such a firm step against progressive legislation, unions and ambitious elected officials have sent out a barrage of statements reacting to the move, which The Politicker has assembled below.

Long story short: They would like the City Council to override Mr. Bloomberg’s veto, which is almost sure to happen as Council Speaker Christine Quinn has vowed to do so. Read More

By The Editors 5/02/11 12:50am

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obama walk

VIDEO: Bin Laden Killed in Pakistan, Obama Announces

Osama Bin Laden was killed by firefight in an American operation with zero U.S. casualties in Abottobad, Pakistan, President Obama announced tonight. In the hour leading up to the address, many news outlets reported the death through intelligence officials and broke the story on Twitter.  President Obama wrote the speech himself, CNN reports.  Video below. Read More